Adjustable clothes hanger



June 1953 D. A. EBERHARDT 2,643,302

I ADJUSTABLE CLOTHES HANGER Filed Jan. 25, 1950 v v INVENTOR." 35 DANIEL A.- EBERHARDT ADV/Mi) I Patented June 30, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,643,802 I ADJUST-ABLE CLOTHES HANGER Daniel A. Eberhardt, St L'ou'is, Mo; Application January 25, 1950, Serial-No. 140,387

'9 Claims. (CI. 223--95) This invention relates to garment hangers used for skirts and the like.

A summary statement at the outset will afford a convenient means for grasping the essence of my invention and will materially assist when ref erence is later had to the appended detailed description and claims. y

The invention contemplates a clothes hanger which engages the inner sides of an article of wearing apparel, such as a skirt at its waistband. The article is frictionally suspended from arms which are extensible to accommodate various sizes, and self-retractable to facilitate easy removal of garments from the hanger.

The engaging arms are formed on the opposing ends of a pair of rods; such rods are maintained in longitudinal abutting parallel relationship by a pair of keepers. A keeper is associated with each of the rods and affixed thereon; the other rod being free to slide therethrough. Thus, the arms carried on the ends of the rods held by the keepers may be extended or retracted as desired.

Further, the arms are maintained in the desired position against a skirt waistband by a lock which prevents their movement away from and out of engagement with the said band.

A slidable saddle is carried on the before-mentioned rods and has a hook mounted thereon for the purpose of suspending the device from a clothes rack and the like; said saddle is kept in a central position on the rods through the action of a pair of tension springs. Onesuch spring is mounted at each end of the slidaole saddle and extended out to engage its respective arm. Another function of the said springs is to return the arms when the holding action of the lock is released. I

Other advantages and objects will become apparent as the specification proceeds and a more comprehensive understanding of the invention will be afforded from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 illustrates a side elevation of the device in its retracted position;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with sections removed showing the extended position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end view showing members as they appear along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section as it appears when viewed along line l4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 illustrates in detail a locking device; and

Fig. 6 shows the locking device illustrated in Fig. 5 in its inoperative position.

For the purpose of disclosing a preferred emsitionment by a pair of keepers l4 and i5.

bodiment of the invention, the same has been shown and now will be described in connection with its use as a womans' skirt hanger. 'With reference to the drawings (Figs. 1 and 2), a pair of rods l2 and I3 lie in slidable abutting relationship and are thus held in such parallel po- The keeper M is affixed to the rod 12 and encircles, while passing, rod :3. The keeper [5 likewise is arfixed to the rod ['3 and passes the companion rod 52, performing a similar function as the keeper I4 associated with the rod l2. Further, the rods [2 and I3 carry, respectively, arms [6 and Il formed at their outer ends. Arm vcovers It and I9 encase the arms 6 and I1 and are preferably made of material such as rubber or its equivalents.

Proceeding further, to maintain the arms [6 and I? at a particularly desired extendedposition (see Fig. 2), a lock 2| is employed. As shown in greater detail in Fig. 5, the lock 2| includes a lever 22 said lever 22 having a bent portion 23 and is carried by means of a slot 24 on the rod [3. The slot 24, being slightly large in area, and dimensioned proportionately to the cross sectional area or the rod it, freely passes the lattertherethrough. A bowed section 25 of the rod izencloses the bent portion 23 of the lever 22, and prevents movement of said portion 23 to the left as viewed in the drawings. Further, a compression spring 26 encircles the rod l3 and. rides thereon. The spring '26 is located between a' jointure'21 of the rods 12 and i3 and the lever 22, thereby urging the bent portion 23 of the lever 22 toward the bowed section 25. This position of the lever 22 may be thought of as normal since, when the lever 22 is held thus, the edges 21 and 28 of the slot 25 form acute anglesto the rod i3 gripping the same and preventing its movement toward the left as viewed in Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 6, the lock 2[ will not interfere with the extension of the arms It and i1 since movement of the said arms l6 and I1 outwardly causes the rod It to overcome the negligible resilient resistance of the lever 22.

Continuing further, a hook 29 is mounted on a saddle 393. The saddle 3t, slidably mounted on the rods [2 and I3 rides between the keepers l4 and I 5. A plate 3i of the saddle 30 (Fig. 3) has turned down'end portions 32 and 33. End portions 32 and 33 are formed with aligned cut-out sections which permit the passage of the rods l2 and I 3' thus enabling the saddle 30 to slide along the rods i2 and I3 and be retained thereon. A pair or lugs 34 and 35 on the lower extremity of turned portions 32 and 33 serve to respectively engage a pair of tension springs 36 and 31. The springs 36 and 31 are further extended to respectively bias the arms [6 and I1, being secured in notches 3B and 39 on the arms I6 and ii.

In operation the device is fitted inside of the waistband of a skirt. When located thus the arms and [1 are extended against the tension of the springs 36 and 31 until the band of the skirt is firmly held by the arms is and II; the arm covers l8 and 19 serving to protect the garment. The lock 2| permits the extension of the arms l6 and I! while prohibiting any retracting when the user relinquishes hold of the device. However, to release the skirt and retrieve it from the hanger, the lever 22 is pressed towards the right as in Fig. 6, against the action of the compression spring 26. This causes the bent portion 23 to pivot against the bowed section 25 resulting in the edges 21 and 28 releasing their grasp of the rod 13. With the rods [2 and I3 thus disengaged, tension springs 36 and 37 return the arms l6 and I! to their retracted position. Throughout, the saddle 39 is kept centrally positioned between the'arms through the action of the springs 36 and 31.

Various changes, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention; partsof the invention may be used without the whole; and improvements may be added while retaining the benefits of this invention.

I claim:

' 1. In an adjustable clothes hanger having in combination a pair of parallel rods movable longitudinally with respect to one another, a pair or keepers holding the rods in abutting relationship, a saddle carried slidably on the said rods between the keepers, a hook secured to the saddle and operable to engage a clothes rack and the like, a pair of arms formed on the outer opposing ends of the rods to engage an inner side of a skirt waist band, a releasable lock on the rods to prevent movement of the arms toward the saddle and a pair of tension springs mounted between the saddle and the arms, respectively, to center the saddle on the rods and return the arms to a collapsed position when the lock is released.

2. In an adjustable clothes hanger having in combination a pair of parallel rods movable longitudinally with respect to one another, a pair of keepers holding the rods in abutting relationship, slidable means for suspending the rods from a clothes rack and the like, a pair of arms formed on the outer opposing ends of the rods to engage the inner side of a skirt waist band, a releasable lock on the rods operating automatically to prevent retraction of the arms but permitting extension thereof, a pair of tension springs mounted between the said suspension means and the arms respectively to center the means on the rods and return the arms t a retracted position when the lock is released.

3. In an adjustable clothes hanger having in combination a pair of parallel rods movable longitudinally with respect to one another, a pair of keepers holding the rods in abutting relationship, a saddle carried slidably on the said rods between the keepers, a hook secured to the saddle and operable to engage a clothes rack and the like, a pair of arms formed on the outer opposing ends of the rods to engage an inner side of 'a skirt waist band, a releasable lock on the rods operating automatically to prevent movement of the arms toward the saddle but permitting opposite movement thereof, and resilient means mounted between the saddle and the arms to center the saddle on the rods and return the arms to a collapsed position when the lock is released.

4. In an adjustable clothes hanger having a pair of parallel rods movable longitudinally with respect to one another, a pair of keepers holding the rods in abutting relationship, a slidable saddle between the keepers comprised of an elongated plate member lying on the rods, a pair of turned down end portions each having aligned cut-out sections permitting the rods to pass therethrough formed on the plate, and a pair of lugs formed on the portions, a hook secured to the saddle to engage a clothes rack and the like, a pair of arms formed on the outer opposing ends of the rods to engage an inner side of a skirt waist band, a releasable lock on the rods to prevent movement of the arms toward the saddle and a pair of tension springs attached at the saddle by engagement with the lugs and secured to the arms operable, respectively, to center the saddle on the rods and return the arms to a retracted position when the lock is released.

5. In an adjustable clothes hanger having in combination a pair of parallel rods movable longitudinally with respect to one another, a pair of keepers holding the rods in abutting and sliding relationship, a pair of arms formed on the outer opposing ends of the rods to engage the waist band of a skirt, a releasable lock comprised of a lever positioned in part between said rod members, having a slot passing one of the rods and an end portion resiliently held against the adjacent surface of the other rod and within a bowed section thereof constructed and arranged to restrain relative movement of said rods in one direction when the lever is in a normal position and to permit relative movement in both directions when the lever is moved to an alternate position, and means for suspending the foregoing device from a clothes rack and the like.

6. In an adjustable clothes hanger having in combination a pair of parallel slidable rods, a pair of arms formed on the rods for engaging a skirt waist band, a pair of keepers for retaining the rods in abutting relationship, a locking means to secure the arms against relative inward movement but permitting outward movement thereof, a saddle mounted on the rods and movable thereon, a hook mounted on the saddle to engage a clothes rack and the like, and extensible resilient means mounted between the arms to disengage the arms from a skirt waist band and center the saddle on the rods when the action of the locking means is withdrawn.

7. In an adjustable clothes hanger having a pair of parallel rods movable longitudinally with respect to one another, a pair of keepers one atfixed to a first of said rods and the other affixed to a second of the rods, each afiixed keeper holding one red in abutting relationship to the other rod, a saddle carried slidably on the said rods between the keepers, a hook secured to the saddle and operable to engage a clothes rack and the like, a pair of arms formed on the outer opposing ends of the rods to engage an inner side of a skirt waist band, a releasable lock on the rods to prevent movement of the arms toward the saddle and a pair of tension springs mounted between the saddle and the arms, respectively, to center the saddle on the rods and return the arms to a collapsed position when the lock is released. I 8. In an adjustable clothes hanger having in combination a pair of parallel rods movable longitudinally with respect to one another, a pair of keepers holding the rods in abutting relationship, slidable means for suspending the rods from a clothes rack and the like, a pair of arms formed on the outer opposing ends of the rods to engage the inner side of a skirt waist band, a releasable lock on the rods operating automatically to prevent retraction of the arms but permitting extension thereof, and resilient means mounted between the slida-ble means and the arms to center the saddle on the rods and return the arms to a collapsed position when the lock is released.

9. In an adjustable clothes hanger having in combination a pair of parallel rods movable longitudinally with respect to one another, a pair of keepers holding the rods in abutting and sliding relationship, a pair of arms formed on the outer opposing ends of the rods to engage a waist band of a skirt, a releasable lock comprised of a lever positioned in part between said rod members, having a slot passing one of the rods and an end portion resiliently held against the adjacent surface of the other rod and within a bowed section 15 v DANIEL A. EBERHARDT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 20 Number Name Date 1,432,448 Edgar Oct. 17, 1922 2,148,688 Freise Feb. 28, 1939 2,315,267 McEwen Mar. 30, 1943 

